22 March 2010

It's although it is barely above freezing where I live, the snow is almost completely gone. It feels like spring.

This painting is made for Alison in Massachusetts who was kind enough to buy a Panda gift certificate that I donated to a silent auction at my son's school. It's a long travel for a silent auction.

Alison asked for a painting that would remind here that winter will eventually be over. Then she added, "I've also been drawn tofiddlehead ferns lately. Random, I know!".

Not random at all. The fiddlehead is a great symbol for spring. It's new growth, new life. (and you can eat it).

I painted most of the fiddlehead with a Chinese brush. One with long, skinny, wiry bristles. (I'm sure it has a name but... I don't know it). This is one of the brushes I bought in San Francisco at an art supply store in China Town. It was in 2001 and I was on my honeymoon happy and throwing my money around. I didn't use them for a couple of years but now this brush is a favorite. It doesn't seem to wear out. (your not supposed to use the same brush for a decade).

I set up this painting with sumi ink (new) and that is most of the black here. I has a beautiful rich tone. ...however it will rub off of gessoed wood with a wet rag. I'll do a layer of gloss medium on top to stop that from happening... and to make it nice and shiny. I like my work to be relatively indestructible.I'm of the "wood will rot before the pigment goes away" mentality.

Sometimes, I still get into arguments with myself about how much I should define in an object when painting. You would think that after making so many paintings (over 40 on this blog alone) I would have it down to a science... but I'm obviously not a scientist. Every new painting as a challenge. I question how I treat each one. This probably facilitates constant artistic growth.... but from a business standpoint I'm a nightmare.

In Other News: I've been rebuilding my personal website. Recently I've added many images (more than doubled) and divided them into galleries by subject matter. I've also added some brief texts talking about each gallery. I think this will make the site more enjoyable to look at. I'll keep adding things as I make them.

Soon there will also be a store where you can purchase some of the work on that site with ease. So check it out at :

Commissions...

All of the paintings here are made by commission in the tiny format of 3.5"x5.5", acrylic on board.Every painting is signed on the back.

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Why is John Megas Making All of These Tiny Paintings?

More than just being a funny blog of tiny paintings, Panda Licking on a Light Bulb is the public face of a project by painter, printmaker and art critic John Megas as a way of engaging audiences in the process of making art and challenging himself as a painter. (It is also a funny blog of tiny paintings).

John will paint any subject matter, in any style, with any requested color scheme. Be specific or vague. All Paintings are made postcard sized, 3.5"x5.5". The flexibility here goes beyond the realm of taking a regular commission. John's goal is to let the purchaser have as much creative control as possible. (Or as little as they want).

Along the way, John blogs about his journey through each painting, posting about the process and sometimes with preliminary drawings, often with ridiculous stories.

Images of the finished pieces are posted and the actual paintings are mailed to their purchasers/collaborators.